The one thing that has seemed relatively certain with NCAA Tournament projections recently is that the top-ranked Indiana Hoosiers would wind up with a No. 1 seed.

Their 77-73 loss at Minnesota on Tuesday night won’t knock the Hoosiers down a seed line by itself, but their spot isn’t nearly as secure going forward. Indiana’s resume still is stellar—seven wins vs. RPI top 25 teams, including roadies at Michigan State and Ohio State, and no real bad losses—so falling off the top seed line was at least a two-step process.

One of those steps happened Tuesday, though.

The Hoosiers still have to play at Michigan and then try to survive what will be a brutal Big Ten tournament; another loss or two isn’t out of the realm of possibility. Another part of the process, of course, is other teams stepping up and earning a No. 1 seed by running through their conference tournament without losing another game the rest of the season.

If that happens, maybe Indiana winds up with a No. 2 seed. Probably not, though.

For the Hoosiers, the more concerning development Tuesday might have been the way they were manhandled in the paint by the Golden Gophers. Now, to be fair, Minnesota is one of the best rebounding teams in the country. Coach Tubby Smith’s team has the sixth-best offensive rebounding percentage in the nation, at 39.7 percent heading into Tuesday’s game, and the Gophers absolutely lived up to that billing, grabbing 17 offensive boards.

Minnesota also bullied Indiana big man Cody Zeller into one of his worst games of the season, on both ends of the court. Offensively, he didn’t make his first basket until the second half, and finished with twice as many turnovers (four) as buckets (he was 2-for-9 from the field). Defensively, he was dominated by a much more physical player in Trevor Mbakwe, who finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds (not all against Zeller, though).

Heck, even Minnesota reserve Elliot Eliason, who came in averaging 13.9 minutes and 1.9 points per game, played well against Zeller on both ends of the court. He finished with seven points and five rebounds.

And it wasn’t just Mbakwe and Eliason winning personal battles against Zeller. The Golden Gophers pulled off this upset despite making just four of 20 3-point attempts because they made 23-of-43 shots from 2-point range, and were particularly effective inside the paint. Indiana has to fix that deficiency.

When it comes to potential NCAA Tournament matchups, there aren’t many teams that can fully emulate Minnesota’s physical style. But after watching the Gophers knock off the top-ranked Hoosiers, you can bet they’ll all try.